Cortez Hankton, a wide receiver in the NFL for six years and most recently the United Football League (UFL), was hired in June 2012 to coach the wide receivers. In his first season, he made a direct impact on the success of a passing game that completed 60 percent of its throws. Senior Michael Reilly earned All-Ivy first-team status while sophomore Ryan McManus was an honorable mention.

In 2013, the injury bug struck the receiving corps, but Hankton managed to work younger players into the mix as 11 different receivers caught at least one pass, seven of which had at least five receptions. Bo Patterson, the only Big Green receiver to play in all 10 games, earned All-Ivy honorable mention.

Hankton came to Hanover by way of UCF, where he spent three months working as a volunteer assistant of player personnel for football. In that role, he helped formulate recruiting priorities and travel plans, plus evaluated prospective student-athletes and broke down film of recruits.

Hankton has spent time training draft-eligible athletes for NFL combines with Tom Shaw Performance Training Camps for the past five years, plus is a certified mental game coaching professional through Peak Performance Sports in Orlando. In the spring of 2010, Hankton also served as a volunteer wide receiver coach at Doctor Phillips High.

In 2002, Hankton received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Texas Southern University, where he set school season and career records for receiving yards. A four-year starter for the Tigers, he was a team captain in each of his final two seasons on the squad, earning team MVP and All-Southwestern Athletic Conference accolades in both years. Hankton culminated his collegiate career by being named to the Division I-AA All-America Third Team by the Associated Press.

The Jacksonville Jaguars then signed the undrafted Hankton in April of 2003, and he proceeded to play in all 16 games as a rookie, catching 17 passes for 166 yards. In his four years with the Jaguars, he caught 34 passes for 310 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both of which came in his sophomore campaign in 2004. Hankton signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2007 and spent the entire 2008 season on the injured reserve with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After being released at the conclusion of training camp in 2009, Hankton signed with the New York Sentinels of the UFL. The following year he played for the Florida Tuskers and head coach Jay Gruden, earning a nomination for the league's Offensive Player of the Year. The Tuskers then moved to Virginia as the Destroyers for the 2011 season, and Hankton was a part of head coach Marty Schottenheimer's squad that won the league championship.

Off the field in 2011, Hankton created Black Ice Concept, an organization that strives to increase minority presence in winter sports by obtaining sponsorships and funding to subsidize expenses for the athletes. He has demonstrated his commitment to academics many times over as well, including the creation of the Cortez Hankton Scholarship Fund for exemplary student-athletes in 2003 and his work with Read Across America through the NFL and the National Education Association.

The son of New Orleans police officers, Cortez Sr. and Sherome, Hankton is the oldest of three children with a brother, Cordae — also a police officer — and a sister, Cortney.